Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Just as one would expect, Susan Lucci is super tiny in person, but the moment she begins to speak, her personality fills the room. I had the chance to catch up with Ms. Lucci at ABC’s Disney/MGM Super Soap Weekend in Orlando, Fla., last month. If you’ve never been or don’t know what it is, let me explain. It’s the mack-daddy of all meet-and-greets. All the hottest stars from the ABC soaps spend the weekend in sunny Central Florida for the main purpose of meeting, mingling with and entertaining their fans.

I guess I should say, their LEGIONS of fans. The numbers for any given day are in the tens of thousands, and they are all at MGM for one purpose — the chance to see their favorite soap star up close and in the flesh.

Susan has been a fixture at Super Soap Weekend since its inception 12 years ago. She’s seen it develop and grow into the fan-frenzy it has become today. So, how does this make the Diva of Daytime feel?

“I’m bowled over and so touched by the response. I am so grateful,” Susan says. With regard to the pandemonium surrounding the stars, Susan explains: “I couldn’t imagine it. During the Street Jam (celebration, which occurs each evening to close out the night), you look out from the stage onto the concourse and see 30 to 40 thousand people — isn’t that a giant stadium, like the Meadowlands or something? It’s truly incredible. It makes you breathless.”

Along with Susan’s immense appeal to her fans, her character, Erica Kane, has certainly made her mark on daytime television. What does Susan think leads to Erica’s lasting appeal?

“I’m sure that the fans have a better answer. I would love to hear what they have to say, because I really don’t know. Except that she is really unpredictable. And so there are things that she says that people want to say or do in their real life. Or they didn’t think of it until later, or didn’t have the nerve to try. Those kinds of things, I think, have been interesting to the audience.

“And her wardrobe’s pretty cute, too,” she adds with a laugh.

As “AMC” fans know, Erica Kane has been wreaking her own special kind of havoc in Pine Valley since 1970. She’s covered the gamut from kidnappings, pregnancies, multiple husbands, being scarred, finding a long-lost daughter, etc. Is their anything left for her that she hasn’t done already?

Susan replies: “Erica has done certainly a lot! I am sure that there are more fabulous things to do, and the writers will think of them. And I know Agnes Nixon (creator of ‘AMC’) is still very involved and hands-on — not in the daily production, but she’s certainly involved in the creativity. She created Erica Kane, so I am so happy that she’s there, and I’m sure her wheels are spinning.”